


Sparks and Embers

by misura



Category: Dragon's Winter - Elizabeth A. Lynn
Genre: 1 Sentence Fiction, Community: 1sentence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-08-10
Updated: 2009-08-10
Packaged: 2018-01-25 07:33:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1639121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>30 sentences about Azil Aumson and Karadur Atani.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sparks and Embers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Farasha Silversand (Farasha)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Farasha/gifts).



> prompt set: gamma

_red_

Karadur's blood was as red as that of a normal human; Azil told his mother about the fight with wide-eyed wonder, and she laughed at his expression even as she scolded him for getting the Dragon Lord's son in trouble.

_view_

Watching the scars on Tenjiro's face made Azil think of all the stories people told of dragons; watching Karadur smile at him made him disregard them as being about other people.

_talent_

Karadur saw Azil would never be a warrior, and was pleased to find himself not thinking any less of his friend for it.

_farewells_

Azil vowed that, in Karadur's absence, he would either become a warrior worthy of being Karadur's friend, or find something else he would be able to earn Karadur's respect with.

_run_

In Mako, Karadur found people who respected him solely for his skills, and who were more than willing to help him improve those skills that would only be referred to in gossip and behind his back at home; some of them were dark-haired and some of them practiced another trade than that of a warrior, yet none of them were Azil.

_midnight_

On a midsummer's night, under the light of the stars, Azil bade Karadur welcome home.

_promise_

As a lord would protect his harpist, and as a dragon would protect its treasure, thus Karadur promised the nightwind and the stars in the sky that he would protect the dark-haired young man asleep by his side.

_talk_

The day after Azil spent the night in Karadur's room, the castle gossiped; the day after that, people merely smiled and business went on as usual.

_wings_

Karadur dreamt a dragon's dreams of flying; Azil, holding him, wished he were able to follow, or at least felt less afraid of being left behind on some nameless tomorrow.

_music_

As Azil sang of love, Karadur's face remained expressionless, though he felt his body react to the sight of Azil's hands drawing the song from the strings of the harp - strong yet soft, those hands were, and sure.

_temptation_

Dragons were said to be creatures of whims and rages, but even as Karadur felt a part of him pulling away from those who surround him and pester him with their quarrels and concerns, he knew that home would always be Atani Castle, with its great hall and a harpist sitting in front of the hearth.

_cover_

Azil buried all his fears and worries, all the uncertainties he felt about Karadur, together with the certainty that things would end at some point, because Dragon would need an heir, and Karadur would need to love the mother of his own son - Tenjiro, with a smile and a few well-chosen words, brought them to the surface again.

_box_

It was a lie that Azil's feelings had been trapped inside the little black box, but Karadur's (he thought, later, surrounded by darkness) might well have been devoured by it.

_fire_

Had he been able to transform, Karadur knew he would have done so on the morning after Azil's departure; he would have hunted down both his brother and his lover, and burnt them down to ashes for betraying him.

_silence_

After Azil had left, the halls of Atani Castle seemed to fall silent - first, awaiting the musician's return, but later, as too much time had gone by, in a wordless lament for what had been stolen and for what had been lost.

_memory_

In the cold, Azil remembered summer; in the silence, he remembered music, and in the darkness, he remembered the way it had felt to love and be loved in return.

_journey_

Later, Azil would not remember much of his escape - only that he had meant to reverse the journey he'd made when he'd left the Keep, full of good intentions and bitter regret.

_dream_

Awakening to find himself in a place of warmth, Azil allowed himself to feel safe, even though he knew that when he closed his eyes again, the ice and the darkness would be waiting for him.

_hurricane_

When he saw what had been done to Azil, Karadur first experienced a dragon's rage - the feeling was almost enough to make him forget Azil's betrayal, even though he knew (with a dragon's pride) that he'd never be able to forgive it.

_mask_

Looking in a mirror, Azil saw an almost-stranger staring back at him; looking at Karadur, he saw a man he had loved and lost, and loved still.

_breathe_

So long as they both drew breath, Karadur knew there would be time yet to make things right.

_cold_

Azil knew only Karadur could make him feel warm again as surely as he knew Karadur would not do so; the ice lay between them, perhaps forever, and Azil had lost the strength to fight the cold.

_strength_

Once, Karadur had been strong enough to allow himself weakness; now, he felt unable to.

_ice_

In his dreams, Azil was haunted by the ice and the darkness; awake, by the coldness in Karadur's eyes.

_hero_

Karadur thought he might rescue Azil from anyone and anything, except himself.

_drink_

Azil sought forgiveness in Karadur's eyes and forgetfulness in the wine; finding neither, he gave up on the latter and told himself he might yet earn the former.

_fall_

Without that first betrayal, Karadur thought he might have easily forgiven the second; as it was, he ordered what was necessary with a heavy heart and dry eyes, and swore that his brother would die the next day, so that Azil might live again.

_candle_

Staring at the flickering light of the candle, Azil knew that it would die before the night would be over, leaving him alone in the darkness, as perhaps he deserved.

_hope_

Warmed by the fire and the victory, Azil allowed himself to hope.

_ring_

Many knew the story of Dierdriu, who dropped a little silver ring into the deepest lake known to men and promised her heart to whomever would return it to her, and the man known as Otter, who sought the ring for a summer and a winter, and then three days more, before he found it and wed the woman who had brought him food and warm wine on Midwinter's Eve - she, of course, was actually Dierdriu in disguise, moved to compassion for her suitor, and so the story ended happily for all concerned, as stories were wont to do, and events outside of them so often didn't.

 


End file.
